Rich festive Fruit Cake
Being a chef that does not suffer from any baking phobias, as I served my time in the pastry section for some very demanding yet excellent peers. The main thing with baking and pastry is to check you have the right quantities and cook at the correct temperatures.
450 g currants
175g sultanas
175 g raisins
50 g glace cherries chopped
50 g mixed peel chopped
3 tablespoons of brandy or 6 tbs fresh orange juice
Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange.
Add All the ingredients in this section and allow to stand in a bowl over night covered with a cloth.
225g soft brown sugar
1 tbs black treacle
225g softened unsalted butter
4 eggs
Cream the sugar, treacle and add the eggs one at a time. Add to the fruit mix above.
225g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
50g chopped almonds
Sift the flour, salt and spices . Fold into the mix above. Line a 8inch round cake tin with greaseproof paper. Tie brown paper around the outside with string. Pour in the cake mix, sprinkle with the almonds. Cover the top with a separate piece of greaseproof paper with a hole cut in the middle. Preheat an oven to 140c and cook on the lower shelf for 4 1/2 hours. Check to see if cooked by piercing with a skewer. If dry then the cake is cooked. Allow to cool and re wrap in grease proof paper and store in an airtight container.
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